Member companies, which pay from $1,000 to $15,000 a year for membership, see the benefit, said Allan McKisson, vice president of human resources at ManpowerGroup U.S., Milwaukee. Manpower has improved its retention rate in the last five years, and he believes Fuel has something to do with that.

“I don’t think we’d be involved just as a good community citizen if we weren’t getting a return,” he said.

McKisson is part of a group of senior human resources professionals who meet regularly to ensure they’re supporting Fuel’s mission and to find ways to better brand Milwaukee.

Fuel also is developing young community leaders, said Meredyth Naramore, a member of The Creative Council and president of the Young Professionals Club at Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee.

“That’s so necessary to be able to bring together people with a common mission and a common future,” she said.

Image problem

The organization can build on its early success as it moves forward, members said. Milwaukee still has an image problem, and too many graduates of Milwaukee colleges are leaving the area, the 31-year-old Naramore said.

“We’re not keeping the people here,” she said. “They’re going to Chicago or they’re going to Minneapolis.”

Fuel needs to keep engaging young professionals and perhaps even reach out to students while they’re still in college, she said.

The organization also hopes to promote mentoring and professional development among its members in the coming years, Biddle said.

King hopes Fuel takes on a more vocal role in the community. The organization has heard often from its members that it can be a voice for young professionals to the MMAC and the community at large, she said.

Associate Editor Stacy Vogel Davis covers retail and tourism for the Milwaukee Business Journal. She also covers restaurant news through her Table Talk blog on The Business Journal website and column in the weekly edition.

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